Round 2 of Ashland XVII was a great night to be at the Columbia Chess Club.There was a chess buzz in the air with twenty-two competitiors in the tournament and others in the skittles room playing king of the hill in Game 5 blitz.

On board 1, newcomer to the club, David Vetterlein(1805) defeated Paul Farb(1903) to take a share of first with 2 points. On board 2, Shiva Balasubramian(1190) defeated Richard Watts(1160) to also rise to two points in tournament. Paul King(1863) defeated Daniel Caiello(1365) on board 3. In the only draw of the night, Erik Murrah(1654) and Mike Mayfield(1390) agreed to disagree to a degree. Ben Caiello(1417), with the black pieces, defeated Ralph Buske(1470) and Craig Patton(1205) defeated Drew Plyler(1207). David Boyd(1089) defeated Mike Meekins(1035) and Jaime Sanyer claimed the point against newcomer Mark Woodman. Christian Dunlap(754) claimed victory against Emilio Garrido(700). Daniel Smith(1148) claimed the point against tough competitor Birny Blind(1298). In the largest upset of the night, "Mr. President" David Grimaud(1688) defeated the powerful Keith Eubanks(2022). See Below.

Come join the fun for round 3 on Sept. 30th 2010.

Registration ends at 7:15PM, email,call or text to be included in the pairings.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

This was submitted by Donny Gray and originally published in the TN Chess News. Donny gave me permission to share this. It may give you a better outlook next time you play someone much higher rated that you.

When playing someone that is vastly higher rated than you it is very easy to get discouraged and almost be defeated before you even move one pawn. There is the other side of this subject as well. What about when you are the higher-rated player in this situation? Then you have the tendency to play fast and careless.

But the truth is that anyone can play way over their head on occasion. You just have to forget ratings and go for it!At the recent TN Senior Open my 2nd round game had all the above and then some. Most likely in all my tournaments my 2nd round opponent was the lowest player I have ever played. If I have played others in his rating range I have forgotten. - Donny Gray

Friday, September 3, 2010

Ashland XVI concludes with 14 players competing in round 5. On board 1 Erik Murrah defeated Paul Farb to claim an overall share of 1st. Ben Caiello and Steve Boshears agreed to disagree, to a degree, and called it a draw. Adam Shaw defeated Mike Mayfield and Ralph Buske claimed the point vs Cody Kyzer. The Birney Blind, Richard Watts game came down to an interesting endgame and they played it to a draw. Daniel Caiello defeatd Craig Patton and Jaime Sanyer and Paul Lowry agreed on a draw.

Note these are Class prizes and not under prizes. Only players in the rating class can win their class prize.

In some past news, IM Alexander Matros(2449) put on a simul exhibition at the club on August 19th, claiming 7.5 out of 8. Thank You to all who participated and Congratulations to Paul Farb who earned a draw vs the player 650 points higher than him.